Premium Windies defeated Premium Canadians by five wickets in Match No. 18 of the American Premier League (APL) 2023. The match was reduced to 18 overs per inning on Thursday, December 28, at the Moosa Stadium in Pearland. Premium Indians prevailed over Premium Americans in the second match of the day by six wickets.
Premium Indians finished the league stage as the only unbeaten side in the seven-team tournament, having won four matches. Two of their matches ended without a result. They have 10 points and a net run rate (NRR) of 1.814 to sit at the top of the points table.
Premium Windies also finished with four victories, but the two defeats have pushed them to the second spot, though they have a superior NRR of 2.321. Premium Afghans are placed in third place with three wins and two defeats at six points and an NRR of -2.594, with one more game to go.
Premium Americans stare at a probable elimination after just two wins and one abandoned match. The three losses have certainly blemished their chances to qualify for the semifinals. They sit in fourth place with five points and a bit positive NRR of 0.58.
Premium Paks, who are currently placed in fifth position with four points from five league games, still have an opportunity to finish in the last four. Their last game against Premium Canadians is a virtual eliminator.
Unlike Paks, Premium Canadians have to worry about their poor NRR even if they end up on the winning side. The first three games of the Canadians were abandoned and their last game was awarded to the Premium Afghans. Abdullah Ghazi’s team has three points with an NRR of -0.111. They must beat Premium Paks by a heavy margin to pip Premium Americans on the table.
Premium Aussies’ qualification chances are all but over after three defeats and two abandoned matches. They are at the bottom of the table with two points and an NRR of -3.949.
Kevin Stoute propels Premium Windies to important win in American Premier League 2023
Premium Canadians rode on the excellent half-century from opener Ritwik Behera (65 off 44 balls) to set up a challenging target of 147 for the Windies in the American Premier League on Thursday. In response, Barbados-born Kevin Stoute led the charge from the front.
The right-handed batter pulverized the Canadians' bowling unit, as he tonked three boundaries and five sixes to score 71 runs in 47 balls before he was cleaned up by Balpreet Singh. Jonathan Foo gave the finishing touches with his destructive 13-ball 31, smashing a final-ball six to pull off the game.
The match between Premium Americans and Premium Indians was a battle of extra runs more than the intent of the batters. The Americans conceded 45 runs in extras, two more than Premium Indians. Premium Indians batter Tushar Srivastav remained unbeaten on 42 in a stiff chase of 145.
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